129 


LIBRARY 


Nova  Albion— 1579 


BY 
ALEXANDER  G.  McADIE 


fhtftqwautan 


Nova  Albion— 1579 


BY      X" 
ALEXANDER  G.  McADIE 


REPRINTED  FROM  THE  PROCEEDING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ANTIQUARIAN  SOCIETY 
FOR  OCTOBER,  1918. 


WORCESTER,  MASSACHUSETTS,  U.  S.  A. 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY 

1918 


.     \ 


' 


THE  DAVIS  PRESS 
WORCESTER,  MASSACHUSETTS 


FIGURE  1 

"The  white  bancks  and  cliffes  which  ly  towards  the  sea."  These 
white  banks  led  Drake  to  call  the  locality  Nova  Albion.  The  photograph 
was  made  from  the  deck  of  a  vessel  drawing  about  the  same  depth  of 
water  as  the  Golden  Hinde  and  anchored  near  the  supposed  anchorage 
of  Drake  in  June,  1579.  The  original  negative  was  destroyed  in  the 
earthquake  and  fire  of  April  18,  1906. 


FIGURE  2 


One  of  the  Farallon  Rocks  which  Drake  probably  rounded  on  July 
24,  1579. 


NOVA  ALBION— 1579 

BY    ALEXANDER    G.    MC  ADIE 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  know  well  the  late  Professor  George  David 
son,  a  high  official  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  and  for  many  years 
Professor  of  Geography  in  the  University  of  California. 

While  in  command  of  the  Survey  brig  Fauntleroy,  he  began  the  prepara 
tion  of  the  Coast  Pilot;  and  followed  with  much  detail  the  voyages  of 
early  explorers.  To  Cook  and  Vancouver  he  gave  special  attention  and 
indeed  verified  their  positions.  Nor  did  he  withhold  his  admiration  for 
the  indomitable  courage  and  perseverance  of  the  early  Spanish  navigators. 
His  paper  covering  the  period  from  1539  to  1603  is  a  classic.1 

In  addition  to  Cook  and  Vancouver,  there  was  another  son  of  Albion 
who  came  a-roving  to  the  Pacific  coast  when  Spain  was  at  the  zenith  of 
her  power.  He  cast  anchor  in  an  open  roadstead  thirty  miles  west 
northwest  of  where  the  greatest  city  of  the  West  Coast  lies  "serene, 
indifferent  to  Fate." 

As  a  citizen  of  this  metropolis  it  was  natural  that  George  Davidson 
should  become  intensely  interested  in  the  identification  of  the  anchorage 
made  by  Francis  Drake  in  1570.  He  proved,  I  think,  beyond  question 
that 

1.  Drake  did  not  reach  the  latitude  of  48  degrees  north,  as  claimed  by 
many  English  writers  and  repeated  in  the  last  edition  of  the  Britannica; 

2.  The  most  northern  latitude  reached  by  Drake  was  43  degrees; 

3.  The  Golden  Hinde  never  sailed  into  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  nor 
did  Drake  see  the  entrance  to  the  Bay  nor  surmise  that  such  a  body  of 
water  existed  in  the  vicinity  of  his  anchorage.     School  textbooks  are 
prone  to  state  that  Drake  discovered  the  Bay. 

4.  In  all  probability,  Drake  cast  anchor  under  the  lee  of  Point  Reyes; 
and  this  is  the  locality  which  he  named  Nova  Albion,  or  New  England, 
from  a  fancied  resemblance  of  the  white  cliffs  to  those  of  his  native  shire. 


!U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Appendix  No.  7.  An  Examination  of  some  of  the 
Early  Voyages  of  Discovery  and  Exploration  on  the  Northwest  Coast  of  America  from 
1539  to  1603.  Also  Francis  Drake  on  the  Northwest  Coast  of  America,  Trans.  Geog. 
Soc.  of  the  Pacific,  Vol.  V,  Series  II,  1908. 


In  company  with  Professor  Davidson  and  on  many  a  lonely  trip  I 
have  tried  to  follow  Drake  as  he  approached  this  anchorage;  and  in  this 
paper  bring  forward  and  as  evidence  the  conditions  of  the  winds,  the 
fogs,  the  landfalls  as  affected  by  the  fogs;  for  all  these  must  be  much  the 
same  as  in  1579. 

When  Drake  and  his  men  got  back  to  Plymouth, 
they  found  that  they  had  lost  a  day,  even  as  Magellan 
had.  According  to  their  reckoning  it  was  Sunday 
when  they  arrived,  whereas  those  who  had  stayed  at 
home,  said  it  was  Monday.  It  was  suggested  that 
perhaps  the  different  climates  which  they  had  exper 
ienced  caused  the  discrepancy.  Now  climate,  which  is 
the  summed-up  weather  of  a  locality,  has  been  held 
responsible  for  many  sins  of  omission  and  commission, 
but  to  make  the  weather  responsible  for  the  loss  of  a 
day  in  the  circumnavigation  of  the  globe  from  east  to 
west  is  calculated  to  arouse  the  ire  of  the  most  placid 
aerographer. 

It  is  however  undeniable  that  weather  was  responsi 
ble  both  directly  and  indirectly  for  many  of  the 
episodes  of  the  voyage.  Certainly  it  played  an  import 
ant  part  in  determining  the  courses;  and  it  may 
therefore  be  well  worth  while  to  examine  critically 
the  weather  conditions  as  recorded,  in  the  light  of  our 
modern  knowledge  of  the  fogs,  winds,  currents  and 
temperatures  along  the  coast  of  California.  If  we 
can  prove  the  constancy  of  certain  climatic  factors, 
we  may  use  these  to  great  advantage  in  interpreting 
the  narrative  of  the  voyage.  Indeed,  they  become 
extremely  valuable  evidence  in  identifying  the  courses 
and  the  various  anchorages.  It  is  therefore  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  aerographer  rather  than  historian 
that  the  writer  approaches  this  subject. 

First,  we  must  prove  the  constancy  of  the  great  air 
currents;  the  fog  formations  and  other  characteristic 
physical  features  of  the  air  circulation  in  these  parts. 
Let  us  begin  with  the  winds. 

The  winds  have  long  been  used  as  fitting  symbol  for 
things  inconstant.  Yet  in  many  localities  the  wind 


FIGURE  4 

Relief  map  of  California.     A  indicates  Drake's  anchorage  B  indicates 
San  Francisco. 


Binuoit  UbtMT 


systems  are  more  to  be  relied  upon  in  running  a  course 
than  the  compass  readings.  I  give  below  a  note  on 
the  courses  of  the  Paramour  Pink  under  Edmund 
Halley  and  the  non-magnetic  ships  of  the  Carnegie 
Institution.2  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  course  could  be 
sailed  today  along  the  coast  of  California  following  the 
wind  directions  as  given  in  "  The  World  Encompassed' ' 
which  would  be  much  nearer  the  one  taken  by  Drake 
than  if  we  attempted  to  use  the  compass  bearings,  tiaacroft  Library 

The  log  or  daily  journal  of  this  voyage  has  never 
been  published,  and  perhaps  was  not  kept.  The 
instrument  used  for  determining  latitude  was  pro 
bably  not  reliable  within  a  degree,  and  positions  in 
longitude  are  guesses.  We  know  that  on  April  16, 
1579,  Drake  left  Guatulco.  The  narrative  based  upon 

the  notes  made  by  Francis  Fletcher  says : 

• 

"  setting  our  course  directly  into  the  sea,  whereon  we  sayled 
500  leagues  in  longitude,  to  get  a  winde;  and  betweene  that 
and  June  3,  1400  leagues  in  all,  till  we  came  into  42  deg.  of 
North  latitude,  where  in  the  night  following  we  found  such 
alternation  of  heat  into  extreame  and  nipping  cold,  that  our 
men  in  generall  did  grievously  complaine  thereof,  some  of 
them  feeling  their  healths  much  impaired  thereby,  neither 
was  it  that  this  chanced  in  the  night  alone,  but  the  day  follow 
ing  carried  with  it  not  onely  the  marks  but  the  stings  and  force 
of  the  night  going  before  to  the  great  admiration  of  us  all; 
for  besides  that  the  pinching  and  biting  air  was  nothing  altered, 
the  very  roapes  of  our  ship  were  stiffe,  and  the  raine  which  fell 
was  an  unnatural  congealed  and  frozen  substance  so  that  we 
seemed  rather  to  be  in  the  frozen  Zone  than  in  any  way  neere 
unto  the  sun  or  these  hotter  climates  though  sea 
men  lack  not  good  stomachs  yet  it  seemed  a  question  to  many 
amongst  us  whether  their  hands  should  feed  their  mouthes, 
or  rather  keep  themselves  within  their  couverts  from  the 

2Doctor  Bauer  in  charge  of  the  magnetic  work  of  the  Carnegie  Institution,  in  the  fourth 
Halley  Lecture,  delivered  at  Oxford,  May  22,  1913,  says:  "Two  sailing  ships  cruising 
in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  port  to  port,  the  one  in  1700  and  the  other  in  1910,  were  forced 
by  the  prevailing  winds  to  follow  very  closely  identical  courses.  If  however  these  two 
vessels  had  been  directed  to  follow  certain  definite  magnetic  courses  and  if  we  may  suppose 
that  they  had  such  motive  power  as  to  render  them  independent  of  the  winds,  then  their 

respective  paths  would  have  diverged  considerably     In  brief  while  the  sailing 

directions  as  governed  by  the  winds  over  the  Atlantic  are  the  same  now  as  they  were  during 
Halley' s  time  the  magnetic  directions  or  bearings  of  the  compass  that  a  vessel  must  follow 
to  reach  a  given  port  have  greatly  altered. " 


6 

pinching  cold  that  did  benumme  them  The  5  day 

of  June  we  were  forced  by  contrary  winds  to  runne  in  with 
the  shoare  which  we  then  first  descried  and  to  cast  anchor  in  a 
bad  bay,  the  best  roade  which  we  could  for  the  present  meete 
with  where  we  were  not  without  some  danger  by  many  of  the 
extreame  gusts  and  flawes  that  beate  upon  us,  whic  if  they 
ceased  and  were  still  at  any  time,  immediately  upon  their 
intermission  there  followed  most  vile,  thick  and  stinking 
fogges,  against  which  the  sun  prevailed  nothing  till  the  gusts 
again  removed  them  which  brought  with  them  such  extremity 
and  violence  when  they  came  that  there  was  no  dealing  or 
resisting  against  them." 
"In  38  deg.  30  minutes  we  fell  in  with  a  convenient  and  fit 

harborough  In  this  bay  we  ankered  the  seventeenth 

of  June,  Our  Generall   called   this   country   Nova 

Albion  and  that  for  two  causes;  the  one  in  respect  of  the  white 

banks  and  cliffes  which  ly  towards  the  sea  th  other 

that  it  might  haue  some  affinite  euen  in  name  also  with  our 
own  countrie  which  was  sometime  so  called. " 

The  World  Encompassed 
by  Sir  Francis  Drake,  nephew  of  the  navigator, 

London  1682,  p.  132. 

Professor  Davidson  has  identified  Chetko  Cove  as 
the  place  of  this  first  anchorage. 

"In  this  place  was  no  abiding  for  us  and  the  winds  directly 
bent  against  us,  having  once  gotten  under  sayle  againe  com 
manded  us  to  the  southward  whether  we  would  or  no." 

It  is  here  that  mention  of  48  degrees  is  made;  but 
it  would  seem  plain  from  the  context  that  43  was 
intended.  There  has  been  much  argument  over  this. 
An  error  may  have  been  made  in  the  original  entry  or 
in  the  transcription.  Certainly  the  figure  3  as  general 
ly  written  is  not  unlike  an  8.  It  must  be  remembered 
too,  that  in  any  narrative  compiled  after  the  cruise 
the  fact  that  the  party  remained  for  a  period  of  37 
days  in  a  locality  whose  latitude  was  38  N.  might  have 
led  to  a  slip  of  this  character.  Wherever  the  figure 
is  written  out,  it  is  "  for  tie-three  degrees  toward  the 
pole  Articke." 

A  good  reason  for  discrediting  48  is  the  time,  11 
days,  required  to  make  the  distance,  for  they  hove  to 
each  night  and  probably  did  not  average  50  nautical 


FIGURE  5 

Drake's  probable  course  and  the  prevailing  winds,  ocean  currents,  and 
air  temperatures  for  June  off  the  California  Coast. 


miles  a  day.  Furthermore  they  were  in  the  Davidson 
current,  an  inshore  eddy  return  current  which  would 
carry  them  north.  The  Golden  Hinde  was  somewhere 
between  100  and  120  tons  burden  and  drew  about  13 
feet  of  water.  There  was  not  much  spread  of  canvas 
and  she  was  a  poor  traveller  because  her  bottom  was 
foul  from  long  stay  in  southern  waters,  also  she  was 
heavily  laden  with  stolen  silver,  had  a  crew  of  60 
souls,  carried  cannon  and  cannon  balls  and  above  all 
was  leaking.  The  narrative  says  that  they  diligently 
searched  the  shore.  Had  they  made  48  and  diligently 
searched  the  shore,  they  could  hardly  have  passed 
unnoticed  Cape  Flattery  and  the  Straits  of  Fuca.  And 
farther  south,  Gray's  Harbor,  Shoalwater  Bay,  Cape 
Disappointment  and  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
River. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  prime  object  of  all 
this  northing  was  to  discover  the  big  river  or  passage 
through  which  they  could  sail  from  the  South  Sea 
into  their  "owne"  ocean,  the  Atlantic.  They  dared 
not  go  south  and  retrace  their  course,  for  they  feared 
the  Spaniard  now  on  the  alert.  To  have  found  this 
short  way  home,  to  have  outwitted  the  greatest  sea- 
power  of  the  day,  to  have  discovered  and  traversed 
the  Anian  Arcticus,  why  this  would  have  eclipsed  the 
glory  of  all  previous  explorers! 

This  conclusion  is  strengthened  if  we  recall  that 
some  thirteen  years  later,  the  Greek  pilot  Apostolos 
Valerianos,  or  to  give  him  his  sailor  name,  Juan  de 
Fuca,  claimed  that  he  did  pick  up  the  entrance  to  the 
Strait  and  actually  entered  it.  There  are  many 
romantic  incidents  connected  with  early  Spanish 
exploration  of  the  Pacific  coast;  but  it  is  doubtful  if 
any  surpasses  the  adventure  of  this  sixteenth  century 
Ulysses.  Captain  George  Vancouver,  entering  the 
passage  two  centuries  later,  did  well  to  name  it  after 
the  old  pilot. 

Drake  and  his  men  then,  according  to  the  best 
evidence,  turned  southward,  somewhere  near  the 


8 

43d  parallel.  The  latitude  was  determined  with  an 
astrolabe  and  there  was  a  probable  error  of  a  whole 
degree,  perhaps  even  more  in  the  reading.  As  they 
sailed  south  within  sight  of  land,  after  leaving  Chetko 
Bay,  they  saw  or  thought  they  saw  snow  covered  hills. 
There  are  no  peaks  visible  from  the  sea  high  enough  to 
have  a  snow  line  at  this  time  of  the  year,  and  there  is 
no  special  evidence  of  an  abnormal  season.  Drake's 
men  made  the  not  unnatural  error  of  thinking  that 
the  dense  white  fog  on  the  hilltops  was  snow.  It  is  a 
common  occurrence  today  for  tourists  on  coasting 
vessels  to  call  attention  to  what  they  think  is  snow  on 
the  mountains.  It  may  be  said  that  seamen  like  the 
crew  of  the  Golden  Hinde  who  had  gone  half-way  round 
the  world  would  surely  recognize  fog;  but  the  fog 
formations  in  this  section  differ  greatly  from  sea  fogs 
elsewhere.  In  several  technical  papers,  the  writer 
has  discussed  the  fogs  of  the  Pacific  Coast3. 

Still  working  southward  the  little  company  worn  out 
with  the  fierce  and  biting  northwest  wind,  rounded 
the  headland  which  we  now  know  as  Point  Reyes, 
named  by  Vizcaino,  on  Epiphany  day,  twenty-four 
years  later,  la  punta  de  los  tres  Reyes,  after  the  three 
wise  men. 

The  locality  then  in  which  we  would  place  the  an 
chorage  is  what  is  now  quite  appropriately  known  as 
Drake's  Bay.  On  June  17,  1579,  he  landed  and  took 
possession  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign  Elizabeth. 
After  making  proper  military  disposition  of  his  force, 
which  included  the  landing  of  the  cannon,  Drake 
hauled  the  Golden  Hinde  ashore,  careened  ship  and 
then  cleaned  and  caulked  her  bottom.  Completing 
this  he  launched  her  again  and  took  aboard  supplies  of 
fresh  water  and  wood.  He  sailed  thence  on  July  23 
after  a  stay  of  thirty-seven  days.  He  passed  the 
North  Farallon  and  farther  south  the  Southeast 
Farallon,  which  he  called  the  Islands  of  St  James. 


"The  Rainfall  of  California,  Univ.  of  Cal.  Publications,  1913. 


9 

Both  of  these  are  shown  in  the  accompanying  photo 
graphs. 

In  the  photograph  herewith  may  be  seen  the  white 
cliffs  referred  to.  Along  the  whole  section  of  the  coast 
there  is  nothing  which  resembles  the  description  other 
than  these.  They  lie  towards  the  sea,  facing  south 
and  in  plain  view  of  the  natural  anchorage  after  round 
ing  the  headland  of  Point  Reyes  and  getting  out  of  the 
stiff  northwest  wind  and  into  quiet  water.  Further 
more  from  this  anchorage  one  can  make  the  North 
Farallon  in  about  four  hours  and  the  Southeast  Faral- 
lon  in  three  hours  more:  and  this  is  just  what  Drake 
did.  The  Golden  Hinde,  after  cleaning  and  caulking 
could  make  with  the  northwest  wind  about  four  nauti 
cal  miles  in  an  hour.  Sailing  southwest  on  what  is 
now  called  225  degrees,  and  making  the  Farallon 
rocks,  Drake  passed  by  the  entrance  to  the  Bay  of 
San  Francisco  about  twenty  miles  out.  He  would  not 
discern  the  entrance.  One  must  go  over  the  course  to 
fully  appreciate  the  conditions.  The  writer  has  done 
this  many  times  and  tried  to  pick  up  the  entrance,  and 
especially  at  the  time  of  the  year  when  Drake  was 
there.  Knowing  exactly  the  location  of  the  Golden 
Gate,  he  was  never  able  to  pick  it  up  with  the  unaided 
eye.  The  landfall  is  deceptive  and  seems  like  a  con 
tinuous  horizon  line.  The  crest  of  Tamalpais,  the 
Sausalito  hills,  Angel  Island,  Alcatraz  and  the  Berke 
ley  Hills  with  Diablo  in  the  background  blend  into 
one  sky  line. 

Furthermore,  in  the  summer  months  there  is  a  valid 
reason  why  the  entrance  can  not  be  seen,  even  when 
one  is  only  a  few  miles  outside.  This  is  the  fog  which 
comes  in  with  the  regularity  of  clockwork  on  summer 
afternoons.  I  have  described  the  character  of  this 
fog  in  several  papers.4  It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into 
details  here  but  it  may  be  said  that  even  if  Drake  had 
been  close  to  the  entrance  he  probably  would  have 

*Bulletin  I.     Climatology  of  California,  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau,  1903;  The  Clouda  and 
Fogs  of  San  Franscisco,  1912. 


10 

missed  it.  About  the  only  time  when  the  entrance 
can  be  picked  up  from  outside  is  in  winter  after  a 
southeaster,  when  the  visibility  is  remarkably  good.5 
Drake  left  his  anchorage  on  July  23  (old  style) 
having  remained  37  days.  He  passed  the  North 
Farallon  rock  and  some  hours  later  the  Southeast 
Farallon  sending  a  boat's  crew  ashore  to  get  seal  meat. 
The  seals  (or  rather  their  descendants)  are  still  there ; 
and  a  little  cove  just  under  the  big  pinnacle  rock  known 
as  Maintop  is  the  spot  where  I  think  the  crew  must 
have  landed,  as  it  is  the  only  place  where  a  landing 
could  be  safely  made  from  a  small  boat  even  in  a 
smooth  sea,  and  the  sea  is  seldom  smooth.  Drake 
called  these  rocks  "The  Islands  of  St.  James"  and 
from  here  steered  boldly  west  by  south  on  the  longest 
leg  of  his  journey  round  the  world.  He  knew  that  in 
time  he  would  reach  the  Ladrones,  the  Philippines  and 
Moluccas;  and  passing  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
come  into  the  Atlantic.  He  had  captured  some 
Spanish  "sea  cards"  from  Don  Francisco  Xarate; 
and  in  fact  was  following  the  return  route  of  the 
galleons  to  Spain.  These  charts  also  gave  the  Pacific 
Coast  north  as  far  as  43  degrees,  a  matter  which  must 
not  be  overlooked.  Of  course  the  possession  of  these 
cards  robs  the  voyage  of  much  of  its  glory.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  certain  English  historians, 
"sing  small,"  as  the  Scotch  say,  about  these  cards. 
The  very  name,  California,  was  on  the  charts  previous 
to  Drake's  visit.  [I  may  digress  for  a  moment  to  refer 
to  the  fact  not  generally  known  that  a  former  member 
of  this  Society,  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  has  credit 
for  discovering  the  origin  of  the  word  California.6 
But  I  regret  to  add  that  the  good  Doctor  inclined  to 
the  belief  that  Drake  anchored  in  San  Francisco  Bay.] 

8One  peculiarity  of  the  fog  in  summer  months  is  the  clear  sone  from  sea-level  to  a  height 
of  about  30  metres.  At  such  times  the  seaman  does  not  clearly  realize  the  true  conditions. 
The  upper  level  of  the  fog  is  about  500  metres  (1640  feet)  and  when  viewed  from  a  dis 
tance  resembles  a  white  blanket.  The  temperature  at  sea  level  in  June  is  approximately 
11  C.  (55  F.)  while  at  the  top  of  the  fog  it  is  27  C.  (81  F.)  or  very  much  warmer  and  this 
means  a  heavy  water  vapor  content  and  a  density  that  results  in  the  whitish  aspect. 

6Proc.  Am.  Antiquarian  Soc.,  April,  1862. 


11 

It  now  remains  for  us  to  attempt  to  fix  the  location 
of  the  Portus  Novae  Albion  by  a  closer  study  of  the 
weather  conditions  for  that  period  of  the  year  when 
Drake  was  there.  This  is  the  more  necessary  since 
the  anchorage  has  been  challenged  on  the  ground  of 
climatic  conditions. 

In  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  Vol.  XV, 
p.  431.  under  the  heading  Sir  Francis  Drake  it  is 
stated: 

"The  one  doubtful  point  is  the  account  of  the  climate,  which  is 
described  with  much  detail  as  excessively  cold  and  foggy, 
(Vaux,  pp.  133-118).  This  is  now  said  to  be  an  exaggeration; 
but  to  speak  of  the  climate  near  San  Francisco  or  anywhere 
on  that  coast  in  July  in  these  terms  is  not  exaggeration  but  a 
positive  and  evidently  wilful  falsehood  credulously  inserted 
by  the  original  compiler  of  'The  World  Encompassed'." 

On  the  contrary  the  description  fits  the  facts.  In 
1902  I  made  an  abstract  of  the  weather  records  at 
Point  Reyes  for  the  37  days  corresponding  to  those 
spent  by  Drake  under  the  lee  of  this  headland.7  It 
is  plain  that  the  fog  and  wind  conditions  are  remark 
able  and  in  accord  with  the  experience  of  Drake's 
party.  Professor  Davidson  surveying  there  in  1859 
noted  in  his  journal  that  the  fog  hung  over  the  pro 
montory  of  Point  Reyes  for  39  consecutive  days  and 
nights.  The  sun  was  invisible  for  the  first  nine  days 
and  on  shore  it  was  visible  only  at  mid-day  for  the 
next  thirty  days.8  How  well  that  description  tallies 
with  the  narrative  where  it  says  "  neither  could  we  at 
any  time  in  the  whole  fourteen  days  together  find  the 
aire  so  clear  to  be  able  to  take  the  height  of  sunne  or 
starre." 

We  give  on  a  Meteorological  Chart  of  the  North 
Pacific  for  June  the  probable  course  of  the  Golden 

7Taking  a  five  year  period  or  185  days  in  all,  there  were  97  days  of  fog.  With  regard 
to  wind  we  note  that  on  May  18,  1902  the  average  velocity  was  32  metres  per  second 
(72  miles  an  hour).  For  a  given  day  the  average  velocity  was  35  metres  per  second- 
The  greatest  wind  for  one  hour  was  164  kilometres  (102  miles)  while  in  a  period  of  seventy- 
two  hours  the  wind  blew  7565  kilometres  or  4701  miles,  that  is,  it  would  go  around  the 
world  in  sixteen  days  if  continuous.  I  had  personal  experience  of  these  high  winds  in 
different  years  both  afloat  and  ashore. 

8Coast  Pilot,  1889,  p.  232. 


12 

Hinde.  Appended  are  copies  of  the  map  of  Hondius, 
1595,  in  the  British  Museum,  and  the  Port  of  New 
Albion,  both  taken  from  Davidson's  earlier  paper 
on  the  Identification  of  Drake's  Anchorage,  read 
before  the  California  Historical  Society  in  May,  1891. 


I 


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I  ! 


